Story : Decisions
=Arrival= Ambrosius had taken his time setting up the table; even so, it was ready quickly. Candles burning smokelessly, a flagon of wine, hard bread and cheese to feed and quench the magi. Llewys had purchased some fresh cherries in Church Stretton earlier that day, which he prepared for the meeting with enthusiasm. It had been many, many days since they last sat around this table with such a serious topic before them. Indeed, the last time, one of the potential founders, a satyr named Eirlys, stormed out intending to not return. Since them, they had all carefully examined each of the potential sites at which to found the covenant, and though now-and-then they had discussed many of their findings around the campfire in the evening, each mage had mostly kept their overall opinions to themselves. Now was the time to aire those opinions. They'd been nomads long enough - Ambrosius was anxious to get his forge and lab set up so that he could get to work. He'd had many, many ideas during these last couple months, said to himself, "I should look into that more...", and he was anxious to get started on them. He took stock, one last time, of the settings, and deemed it all good. Taking a seat, he withdrew a stained piece of vellum from his own bag, along with a quill and ink bottle. A brief Perdo Herbam incantation later, and the vellum was white as sand. He set to work, while he awaited the others, on his own list of "pros" and "cons" for each location, along with some notes on other things that concerned him. He was still working on the list when he found he had company. Marcus entered and looked around in surprise, "Am I the first? Second," he amended, "since tu est primus, of course. And I came all the way from Church Stretton in two leaps ..." Seeing the others gathering, Bedo entered the cottage, from outside where he had been watching the late afternoon sky turn to evening. He brought no notes with him, but did bring a jug of wine and some goblets with him. "This could be a long discussion", he said gesticulating to the pitcher, "although, I hope less contentious than the last formal meeting. Has anyone seen Mnemosyne?" He grinned as he saw that his preparations had duplicated Ambrosius's work. Longinus entered close behind Bedo. "I for one have not" he spoke carefully, "but as this is the appointed hour I expect our good Quaesitor will be here shortly." He paused at the same place he had sat at the earlier meeting. "I am interested to see how she will arrange this meeting. Each Magus to report in turn? Each site debated on in turn? A combination thereof? Some other way?" He gave a half smile as though looking forward to the debate, then bowed his head for a long pause before sitting on the stone seat and wriggling his behind as though settling on a more comfortable chair. When Mnemomsyne entered the chamber she was wearing a green embroidered dress with matching slippers peeking out from beneath the hem. It was rather a departure from the sober grey which she had been garbed in of late while travelling about. A scroll case hung from her waist, against her hip, while in her hand she held a much larger rolled scroll. She nodded sociably to the assembled magi. "Sodales," she greeted them. She approached Bedo. "Would you mind keeping a record of the meeting, as you did before, sodalis?" Mnemosyne nodded at Bedo's answer and moved around the table to take a seat, making brief contact with each mage as she did so. "How did you find Church Stretton, Marcus? I trust that our presence in the area is not causing any alarums." (Barring GM input to the contrary ...) "Things have quieted down since the events surrounding our arrival. I have been doing my best to keep things calm and friendly. There is still some tension over the heavy-handed actions of the bishop, naturally, but fortunately none of it seems directed at us," said Marcus. (And have I stumbled across anyone who looks like good candidates for joining our merry crew? Especially shield-grog types as per request. And is there anything else I should know about the situation in the Strettons?) Moving on past Longinus, the maga commented, "I hope today that we will see the fruit of our correspondance. This should be a historic meeting... If only for us brave few." To Ambrosius, Mnemosyne merely smiled and nodded and touched him lightly on the shoulder as she passed, then settled down to await the final arrival. =The Meeting Begins= When all the magi had assembled and readiness was indicated, Mnemosyne raised her right hand and called for the attention of her gathered sodales. She quickly, but carefully went through the formalities of declaring the meeting open and moved swiftly to business. "At the end our last meeting we agreed to investigate all four prospective sites in more detail, as described in the minutes of the last meeting. We meet now to pick one of those sites for the foundation of our covenant." After pausing for a moment to check that no-one wished to check any details, Mnemosyne continued on. "In the interest of saving time, I suggest we only discuss the sites in which we have an interest in. Not to say that each site does not possess its own special attributes, particularly as vis sources, but here we discuss a location for the covenant. I suspect that one site can ruled out due to practical matters, but let us find out about each site in turn." "Does anyone have interest in Potter's Field, despite the practical problems of it being accessed but once a year?" Mnemosyne looked around to see if anyone raised a hand or voiced an aye. She herself did not. After a moment, Marcus shook his head and remained silent. Ambrosius shook his head, "No, maga. I'm very intrigued by the events at Potter's field, and hope to, ummm, study it further in the future, but I don't think it would, ah....I don't think it would make a good home. In fact, I think it might be dangerous." After the magi had shown or voiced their interest or lack of it, Mnemosyne asked, "And Caer Caradoc?" Here she raised her own hand showing that she thought it was worthy of discussion. Here Marcus showed no hesitation, he raised his hand quickly and firmly, "Debemus disputare de illo." ''"Hockstow Forest?" Mnemosyne asked next. She made no sign of interest. Nor did Marcus. Longinus bowed his head, and after a long moment the familiar Marble statuette of a hand appeared. "And the Long Mynd?" Mnemosyne asked finally. She raises her own hand again, as did Ambrosius. After some hesitation, Marcus halfheartedly raised his hand as well.